[MUSIC, Title: "A Hook You Didn't Even See Coming! Learning, Motivation, and Dopamine"] [Terry] Okay, Barb, have it figured it out yet? [Barb] Hang on a minute. [Terry] While Barb's trying to figure it out, let's do a 30-second review of a few key ideas from our previous "Uncommon Sense Teaching" course. Remember that learning means linking. Whenever we learn something—anything— we learn it by creating a set of links between neurons in long-term memory. The more we practice with whatever we've learned, the more we strengthen those sets of links. Nicely connected sets of links in long-term memory make it easy for our octopus of working memory to pull those sets of links into our mind. So, this brings us to an important question: Is there a way to more easily make connections between the sets of links in long-term memory? There is indeed a magical chemical that makes this happen. That chemical is, tadaa, dopamine! [MUSIC, Title: "Dopamine, The Magic Chemical Behind How We Learn"] [Beth] Dopamine is a chemical that makes us feel good. Think of that eureka happy feeling when you finally figured out a difficult problem. Here's the key idea. Whenever dopamine plops in at a synapse —that tiny little gap where neurons talk to each other— guess what? That dopamine helps build and strengthen those neural connections. This is why dopamine is so important in learning. The great thing is that those dollops of dopamine also make YOU feel good. There's actually a whole system in your brain that can squirt dopamine out in different areas. Sort of like a sprinkler system. [Terry] Researchers who know their way around brains can turn off dopamine neurons in mice. The results were unexpected. A mouse can't learn some basic and easy things when its dopamine system is turned off— things like associating a tasty treat with a certain sound. This makes sense. Without dopamine around to make the link, it's pretty tough for the brain to automatically make that link without stopping and thinking about past experiences. Dopamine is at the heart of how we learn. Whenever dopamine squirts out around our synapses, it helps neurons link together more easily. When does dopamine squirt near a synapse? Whenever [we get an] unexpected reward. And not just external rewards— even an unexpected reward like having your curiosity satisfied. This leads to a dopamine spurt that causes links of learning to get locked into place. Hey Barb, any luck solving that problem? [Barb] Finally, I've got it! I've been working on that problem for over an hour. [MUSIC, Title: "Curiosity: The Queen of Learning"] [Barb] Here's what my little neural sets of links were doing while I was trying to solve the problem. I was trying one neural pathway, but no. Then I tried another pathway. No, that didn't work either. So I tried still another approach. Hmm, that one didn't work. Then I tried one more time. Wow, I finally got a solution! The reason I feel great? Because when my curiosity is satisfied, dopamine is squirted out on my dopamine neurons and it makes me feel good. But here's the really interesting part. That dopamine actually homed in on exactly those recently-used neurons that allowed me to satisfy my curiosity. It only squirted in around the neurons that helped me to solve that problem. This is exactly how we learn! Only the neurons involved in helping us to successfully learn are the ones that get their connections strengthened. Of course it's a little more complicated than this. Related molecules like serotonin are also involved. But dopamine is a key player in learning, so let's just focus on it. When it comes to retrieval practice, dopamine release does not stop after that first retrieval. That is, the first success in recall, which is unexpected. Instead, its release decreases slowly, until you know it automatically, without effort. It's unexpected rewards, like getting good at solving a new and different type of problem, that trigger the release of dopamine. This indeed can be why educators who know their job inside and out can begin to find themselves growing bored with their work, even if it might have taken a long time to learn the skills for that job. When there's little opportunity for surprise— that is unexpected reward— there's little opportunity for dopamine release and little opportunity for new learning. Incidentally, this dopamine, involving molecules that concentrate around the synapses and helps us learn, is called "phasic" dopamine. This is why sparking your students' curiosity is so important. When a student is curious, that student's dopamine system kicks into gear as soon as the curiosity is satisfied— and the student learns better. And little unexpected rewards sprinkled throughout the learning session are equally valuable for allowing dopamine to disperse and work its magic. You may ask, what's the recipe for getting my students to be curious? Well, as an uncommon sense teacher, you probably already know the answer to that question. Some students are naturally curious, but for others, we teachers need to do some investigating to uncover our students' interests. Ask open-ended questions. Connect what you're teaching with students' interests. Be excited. Excitement and enthusiasm are contagious. [MUSIC, Title: "Dopamine in the Classroom"] [Beth] So, let's take this now into real-life situations with two very different teachers: Ms. Duwell and Ms. Guided. The teacher in the first classroom, Ms. Duwell, is good at finding ways to give her students little unexpected rewards. But note, Ms. Duwell doesn't praise her students at every possible opportunity. If she did, she'd start becoming predictable! Remember, it's the UNEXPECTED rewards that cause the release of dopamine. Instead, Ms. Duwell provides upbeat, positive reinforcement in unexpected ways. A happy gasp when she sees the right solution. A trip with the class outside to take in the spring air. When students are lining up, she might make it into a game with high praise when students are quick and quiet. Ms. Duwell asks good questions or creates intriguing scenarios at the beginning and throughout her classes that spark students' curiosity and keep students' interests. In other words, Ms. Duwell's class is designed to draw out spurts of dopamine. No surprise, Ms. Duwell's students seem pretty smart, because those squirts of dopamine make it easier for them to learn. Incidentally, have you noticed how we structure each of our videos in this course to help draw your interest? Ms. Guided, on the other hand, sees in her mind's eye what she wants her students to be doing. It all seems so simple. Why can't they just do what she tells them? Lining up, for example, is SO simple. They line up for buses— why can't they line up for her? Ms. Guided doesn't understand that her students can't read her mind. So she yells at them when they dawdle. And because she's yelling at them, there's no dopamine reward going on. Ms. Guided, in fact, tends to operate more on reprimand rather than reward. If anything, Ms. Guided's class seems designed to suck dopamine out of her students' brains. No surprise, Ms. Guided's students don't seem to learn, because nothing in their environment is encouraging the dopamine that allows for easier, better learning. In fact, here is where the fear network rears its ugly head. And that's exactly where we're going next— deep into the heart of the fear network. [Beth] I'm Beth Rogowsky. [Barb] I'm Barb Oakley. [Terry] I'm Terry Sejnowski. [All] Learn it, link it, let's do it!
